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Mr MacShane later dropped his father's name in favour of his mother's but retained his strong interest in and emotional attachment to Poland.

He recalls how proud he felt when, shortly after being made Europe Minister in 2002, he was asked to sit in for a few moments for Tony Blair at an EU summit in Copenhagen as the leaders of the new states were formally admitted into the western club.

"At precisely that moment, it was the turn of the Poles, and the Polish Prime Minister made a little speech on behalf of his country . . . to express his thanks."

Mr MacShane's background helps, in part, to explain his ardent pro-European views. He speaks several European languages and will regularly open a conversation with comments such as "As I was saying to Gerhard (Schroder) last week . . ." or "Jacques (Chirac) told me . . . the other day".

He says he has long despaired of "the cynicism, the sneering dismissal of Europe" in educated circles in Britain and is longing to combat them in a referendum campaign on the constitution. Europe's achievements since the Second World War, he says, have been nothing short of astonishing and today's enlargement of the EU crowns them.

"This is a continent that is the biggest producer of war, genocide, holocaust, ethnic hate, filthy ideologies, disgusting religious pogroms. "But all this has suddenly stopped. And we have done it on the basis of everybody getting richer as well."

Ireland was a "very, very poor" country when he went there on family holidays in the Fifties. Now it is transformed and prosperous and soon the nations of eastern Europe should follow suit. "I would love to see the middle class cities of Europe rising from the ashes: Posnan, Bratislava, Riga, Tallinn, Cracow, Lublin."

Unlike so many in the Labour Party, he does not blame the eurosceptic press for turning the public against Europe. He says most blame accrues to the Conservatives as it is they who give political cover and respectability to the sceptic campaign.

"I would simply say to all those who are ranting against Europe's expansion, from Tory politicians to newspaper editors, honestly ask yourselves, who looks after your child? Who does the building work in your house? Who cleans your houses and the shopping malls? Who serves you in the coffee bars and allows the supermarkets to stay open on a 24/7 basis?"

He snarls at those who suggest Poles and others are coming to Britain to exploit the benefit system.

"There's nothing to stop any Poles who get on the bus in Warsaw from jumping off for a p**s at the first motorway service station in Germany, or in Belgium or France, where benefits are often more generous than the UK.

"We must never return to the isolationist, protectionist England of the 1930s which slammed the door in the face of East Europe, though, thank goodness, it did allow in Romanian asylum seekers like Michael Howard's parents and my father."